“Cool, warm and surfie” is how Australian acoustic rocker Peter Murray describes his re-recorded Blue Sky Blue album, The Byron Sessions.
“By surfie, I mean it sounds better if you play it near the beach,” Murray explained.
Toying with the idea of doing his first “real” solo Australian tour, Murray sent an acoustic demo of his fourth album title track Blue Sky Blue to Blue King Brown singer Natalie Pa’apa’a.
Her rap, which Murray thought “sounded great”, sparked the idea to remake his Blue album using acoustic beats and a line-up of industry friends.
“I didn’t want to release an album and have it be like the greatest hits because I wasn’t ready for that,” Murray confessed.
“I thought doing the acoustic version of my last album and having friends involved would give it a clean, fresh vibe”.
Murray admitted he preferred the re-released album over his electric guitar original.
“Maybe the songs didn’t reach their potential on the last album but I always believed in the songs.”
Murray believed that fans were also more receptive to his traditional acoustic sound.
“It was my decision to do an electric album rather than what I was known for – which is acoustic – because I wanted to do something different.”
But Murray said the opportunity to record both versions of the album made him “lucky” to take risks and have fun.
“I went into this project (The Byron Sessions) to have fun and I didn’t have any expectations.
“I was blown away with what my friends were doing with my songs, so it’s great.”
Visiting regional towns like Geelong during his solo tour was a “big priority”, Murray said.
“My fans have always been so important to me and there are so many fans in these towns who’ve always supported me.”
Murray promised he would get “up close and personal” with fans at The Wool Exchange on February 16.
“I want everyone to have a really good time and feel like they’re part of the show.”
